Fr. Donald J. Bowen

Ordained: 1964
Status: Convicted

Diocese: Diocese of Fall River MA

Sexually abused a girl, ages 9-16, in the late 1960s-early 1970s. He wrote letters saying that he would leave the priesthood to marry her. She told the diocese in 1990 and accepted a $200K settlement in 1992. Bowen was an active priest in Bolivia with the Society of St. James for 28 years before his indictment in Boston in 2002. Charged with indecent assault and battery of a person under 14 and lascivious acts on a person under 16. Pled guilty in 2005. Sentenced to 2 years in jail, 10 years probation and registration as a sex offender. Included in 1/21 on the Fall River diocese’s list of credibly accused. It notes that Bowen was laicized in 2007.

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